A mass stabbing at a Japanese care facility has left 19 disabled people dead in one of Japan’s worst mass murders since the second world war.
A 26-year-old man, Satoshi Uematsu, turned himself in to local police after stabbing 45 people at the care home. The incident took place in the Tsukui Yamayuri-en facility in Sagamihara, west of Tokyo; occupied by approximately 150 residents with mental disabilities.
Local broadcaster NTV claims that Uematsu was known to police, as he previously wrote a letter to politicians calling for the euthanasia of Japan’s disabled people.
His letter also contained a haunting plan to murder residents at the facility, to strike at night when there were fewer staff in the care home.
Japan massacre
The Japan Times reports that his letter stated: “I dream of a world where the disabled could die in peace. I will carry out the plan without hurting the staffers, and I will turn myself in after I kill the disabled.”
The letter led to Uematsu being hospitalised because he was deemed a danger to others.
It has been reported Uematsu told police “It would be better if disabled people disappeared” after he turned himself in.
19 people are confirmed dead –26 injure — with the death toll expected to rise.
Did #Japan officials ignore letter knife attacker wrote to Parliament outlining bloody plan? https://t.co/FYrSSNnllT pic.twitter.com/qLbZrEWwle
— Firstpost (@firstpost) July 26, 2016
